This week Krysta and Briana at Pages Unbound are hosting the discussion: What is a contemporary book you think might become a classic? Or should become a classic? This is a difficult question for me because I don’t read a lot of literary fiction which is, in my experience, what is most likely to be taken seriously. Even within genre fiction I’m not super likely to read the critically acclaimed literature as much as I am to read the fun literature.
But perhaps I have a bit firmer of a grasp on what is going to be remembered in children’s literature and YA. While kids lit has a firm set of books that are by and large considerd “classics”, YA is so new that other than The Outsiders it doesn’t. But since there is so much content written for teens now, I think it’s inevitable that these lists start coming out.
When thinking about what would be included in a list of YA classics, it’s impossible to believe that the list would not include something by John Green. He has been consistently producing work that has received critical acclaim for long enough to be, well, influential. The only question would be, which book? Looking for Alaska is the most widely used in schools, while The Fault in Our Stars is easily the most popular of his books. In my opinion Paper Towns has the most to say about what it means to be human. I think ultimately Looking for Alaska’s consistent use by teachers and frequent bannings (which keep it on the librarians’ radar) will land this book in the YA cannon as that begins to develop.
Continue reading “Classic Remarks: Contemporary Classic”
I mean, like, every couple in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet! It’s kind of the point of the book, that it explores how relationships might become more complex if we discover more life out there, and how that will re-define what we think of as a weird relationship. Like, how do inter-species couplings work? What about how different planets have different ways of thinking about family and relationships? Can you have a relationship with a computer? It’s all so BRILLIANT, but it’s also touching and relatable, and GAH! Read it! 
Genre: Young Adult
This is kind of a long book, so if you’ve never read anything substantial with your kids before, you might want to ease into this one! I recommend subtly skipping pages in the middle so they feel like they’ve accomplished something big.
I am on goodreads, which is a great place to keep track of the books I want to read, especially since I can’t afford to just go buy them all. However, I do have a dresser in my bedroom with some rather pretty bookends on top, and I keep any books I’ve purchased but haven’t read yet on there. Which lately has gotten to be pretty small. 
Never Not Reading 